Kabbee's Request to Access the Bus Lanes

During London's May Bank Holiday tube strikes, Kabbee asked London Mayor Boris Johnson a simple question. "Can you give minicabs access to the bus lanes during the strike, to Keep London moving?" Read on to see what happened next.

The CEO of Kabbee, London’s home-grown licensed minicab comparison and booking app, has submitted an open letter to Transport of London’s Managing Director of Surface Transport, Leon Daniels to request temporary permission for licensed minicabs to enter bus lanes, during the time that black cabs are due to protest tomorrow.

Kabbee’s last ditch attempt to keep London moving is a result of its calculations that reveal the cost of the black cab protest on Wednesday 11th June will be a whopping £125m for road users alone.[1]

The demonstration is set to cost minicab fleets a further £2.4 million based on loss of earnings of 25 percent of the drivers who won’t work due to the expected gridlock.[2]

Since its launch in June 2011, Kabbee has been downloaded by more than 400,000 Londoners, who use the app to access 70 fleets and over 10,000 licensed minicabs. Justin Peters, CEO and Founder of Kabbee sent the communication to TFL’s Managing Director, Leon Daniels, on Friday 6th June, a section of which read:

“During London’s recent tube strikes, we asked for TFL to grant London’s minicabs temporary access to bus lanes, to which you replied:

‘During the recent RMT strike the largest number of buses ever were deployed on London's streets, carrying around an extra million passengers and playing a crucial role in keeping London moving.

‘To allow additional traffic to use our bus lanes, including private hire vehicles, would only cause disruption to these services which would make no sense at all.’

“During the hours when 15,000 black cabs are going to be absent from the bus lanes, surely it makes sense to allow minicabs to keep London moving.

“I, along with millions of Londoners, would appreciate your consideration of this request, and if you are unable grant permission, please quantify your reason for this.”

Mr Peters is yet to receive a response to his letter from Transport for London. The open letter can be accessed here.

[1] Based on £1.7 billion cost of London traffic, divided by 81 - the number of hours the average person spends in London traffic, multiplied by 6 hours – see link here

[2] Based on there being 65,000 minicab drivers in London – a quarter of which will not work, multiplied by £150 earnings per day

From the first day we appointed Sense they have been working relentlessly to help Kabbee 'making minicabs mighty'! The whole team is a real pleasure to work with. They always come up with great ideas and they support the business in every single aspect, understanding the needs and the opportunities that lie in front of us.

Having the confidence that we can rely on their expertise and availability no matter the time or the day of the week is priceless.

We really like to work with Sense and we highly appreciate the fantastic job that Lisa and her team is doing.

Cristina Astorri, Marketing Director Kabbee

Share, it makes sense

Let us get behind your brand, if you dare.

Book a free BPro™ consultation today, and watch your brand become centre-stage next week. You know the drill, fill in the form, or if you want to move faster, pick up the phone.